Bailer



March 23,1926; 1,577,541 H. W. RHINELANDER BAILER Filed Oct. 29, 1924 Patented Mar. 23, 1926.

HARRY WILLIAM RHINELANDER, OF FALEMBANG, SUMATRA, EAST INDIES.

BAILER.

Application .filed October 29, 19-24. Serial No. 746,609.

To all whom it m ay concern Be it known that I, HARRY IV. RHINE- L'ANDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Palembang, Sumatra, East Indies, have invented a new and useful Bailer, of which the following is a specification.

- This invention relates to bailers such as used in oil field work.

Heretofore it has been the practice at certain stages in the drilling of an oil well, to

pour Water into the top of the hole. This,

however, is not advisable under conditions where the hole caves in readily. Where this condition is present it has been the practice generally to fasten a stick to the valve of the bailer and to lower the bailer with the water therein until it reaches the bottom at which time the stick is forced upwardly to open the valve and permit the water to escape. The valve is not left open, however, during the upward movement of the bail and, furthermore, considerable time is lost in applying and removing the stick.

It is an object of the present invention to provide the bailer" with a means combined therewith whereby the valve will be opened when the bailer reaches the bottom of the Well and will be kept open until the bailer is nation and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a section through a portion of the bailer having the present improvements combined therewith.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the valve and its stem or dart.

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the latch used in connection with the stem.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the lower portion of a bailer in the lower end of which is secured a ring 2. This ring is preferably held in place by rivets 3 and is flared at its upper end to provide a seat 4. The lower portion of the ring has an inwardly extending annular flange 5.

The seat 4 normally supports the tapered lower portion 6 of a valve 7 which thereby normally closes the bottom ofthe bail so as to prevent leakage. Secured in thevalve and extended downwardly therefrom is a stem or dart 8 preferably provided with an enlargement 9 at its lower end. A latch such as shown in Fig. 3 is connected to the stem 8 and, in the structure shown, consists of a single length of spring metal bent to provide parallel terminal portions 10 downwardly diverging arms 11 terminating in opposed inwardly extended shoulders 12, and a yoke 13 connecting the shoulders and bridging the space between the terminals 10. The terminals are preferably fastened to the enlargement 9 by means of a rivet 14 or the like. As shown in the drawings the free ends of the terminal portions 10 can be extended laterally in opposite directions at 15 so as to constitute fulcrums or abutments for opposed portions of the yoke 13.

Under normal conditions the stem or dart 8 is suspended below the bottom of the bail as shown in Fig. 1 and water is therefore retained in the bailer by the valve 7. When the bailer reaches the bottom of the well the yoke 13 and stem or dart 8 are held against further downward movement while the bailer continues to descend. Thus the valve is lifted from its seat 4 and the flange 5, riding downwardly along the diverging arms 11, Wlll press said arms toward each other-until the shoulders 12 are brought to positions above the flange whereupon they will snap over the flange and thus lock the stem in elevated position within the bailer. Consequently when the bailer is raised from the well the valve 7 will be supported off its seat. The valve can be readily reseated simply by compressing the sides of the yoke 13 sufliciently to disengage the shoulders 12 from the flange 5.

By utilizing a structure such as described a considerable saving of time is effected over the old method of attaching a stick to and detaching it from the valve. This structure is also advantageous because it retains the valve in open position and thus allows all water to drain from the bailer during the ascent of the bailer.

What is claimed is The combination with a bailer, a ring constituting the bottom thereof, said ring having a flared upper portion constituting a valve seat, and an inner annular flange at the bottom of the ring and integral therewith, of a valve normally engaging the seat, a stem depending from the valve and normally projecting below the ring, and a latch formed in a single length of resilient metal,

said latch including a yoke'straddling the lower end of the stem, terminal portions extending along and secured to the stem and projecting into the yoke, downwardly diverging arms projecting from the upper ends of the terminal portions, and opposed shoulders connecting said arms to the yoke.

In testimony that I claim 'the) foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature.

HARRY WILLIAM RHINELANDER. 

